Coming Home
by QueenRiley
Summary: The fight had been epic and he'd walked out seething with anger. He wasn't even sure he'd be welcomed home, but it was the only place in the world he wanted to be. Set immediately after Once a Ranger. Rocky/Adam


Adam shouldn't have been surprised to see lights on in his apartment. All the other windows in the building were dark, their occupants long since gone to bed. Not his, however. Lights blinked down at him from the kitchen and living room windows. He could see a dark shadow moving behind the blinds. He slung his bag over his shoulder and made his way up the three flights of stairs to the top floor.

His hand hovered over the knob. He wasn't entirely sure he wanted to go in. He'd left after a fight, a big one, and he wasn't sure what he was coming home to. He's supposed it was promising that his partner was still there at all. Taking a deep breath, he turned the knob. It was unlocked, despite the late hour. He opened the door to find the living room much as he'd left it, although it had since been vacuumed. The dark silhouette from the window shade rounded the corner, dust rag in hand. He stopped short when they made eye contact.

"I, uh, wasn't sure you'd still be here." Adam mumbled as he dropped his bag to the floor. Rocky remained silent, staring at him, his face closed off. Adam couldn't read him for once in the entire time they'd known each other. It made him nervous. "You were so angry when I left… I was worried." A weight he didn't know he was carrying lifted from his shoulders when Rocky smiled.

"I did some cleaning, which means I did some thinking." Adam allowed himself a small smile.

"A dangerous pastime," he said, pulling out an old joke in the hopes it would relieve some tension.

"I know." Rocky chuckled. "But seriously, I think I owe you an apology, Adam. I'm sorry. I didn't realize just how important being a ranger again was to you, but I should have. I should have supported you, no matter what it did to me, no matter how I felt about it, because it mattered to you. I didn't, and I'm sorry."

"No, it's me that owes you the apology. I shouldn't have left like that; I should have listened to you. I should have at least been willing to talk about it. I'm the one who's sorry. You don't have to say anything." Adam started. Rocky gave him a steely look and Adam knew he needed to shut up. Rocky never did anything halfway.

"I do. You deserved my support. I was worried, though. I mean, we're not exactly sixteen anymore, Adam. We're pushing thirty. It's just not the same." Rocky was wringing the dust rag in his hands. It was endearingly cute to Adam, to see him so worked up.

"I know we're not sixteen anymore. I realized the effect a little too late. I'm okay, I didn't get hurt or anything, but I'm definitely feeling it. The strain of the power, the tension… it was one thing when I was young, but now? My body protested. I'm beginning to understand why Zordon picked teenagers." He rubbed at his shoulder and looked down at the straight, precise lines in the carpet. "Still… it felt good to be a ranger again. To fight the good fight. To make a difference."

"Adam, we do make a difference. Here, in Angel Grove, every single day. We fight the good fight, just in a different way than we did as rangers. That's all I was trying to say when you left. I've always been okay with this, with it being on a smaller scale." Rocky tossed the dust rag onto the end table, taking a few steps towards Adam.

"But don't you miss it, being a ranger?" Adam asked. He certainly missed it; missed it like a piece of his heart had been ripped out. When he'd given up the powers before, he thought he'd never be whole again. Rocky had helped with that, helped him get through it, but he still missed the power.

"Sometimes, yeah. I'll admit it; I do miss being a ranger. I was a little jealous when you were picked to lead the new team." Rocky shrugged.

"Is that what this was all about? I got my powers back and you didn't?" Adam was confused again.

"Yes and no. Part of it was. This is the second time you've gotten your powers back. I know the first time was your own stupid sense of heroism, but you were handpicked this time. You gave your powers up to go to college. I gave mine up because I got hurt. I mean, Tommy didn't even call me when he got all the Red Rangers together! He found all of them, even Jason, even the Rangers we don't know, but he didn't bother to find me. I was angry." Adam nodded in understanding. He'd remembered how Rocky has reacted when they found out. It had been so hard to be around him, for weeks after he was furious. The apartment had never been cleaner though. Rocky cleared his throat and continued.

"But this past week, while I thought about things, I realized something. I dealt with it. It's in the past. And I'm okay with it. I'm finally okay with never being a ranger again, not in the temporary, not even for a day. I'm over it. I don't ineed/i the powers anymore. I can make a difference right here without them. It's not huge, it's not world-saving, but it's here in Angel Grove and it means the world to the people of this community. That's enough for me." Adam opened his mouth to interrupt, but Rocky shushed him. He wasn't done.

"I understand now. I didn't get it when you left, but I do now. This life, what we do here, it's not enough for you. I get that. You need more. I'll try to be more supportive of that, of you, from now on. That is, of course, if you still want me." Rocky looked anxious, scared, like a puppy waiting for reassurance. Adam couldn't resist the big brown doe eyes and took a step forward. He reached out and pulled Rocky into a warm embrace, rubbing his back as he hugged him tight.

"I came home, didn't I? I'll always want you. Can't imagine my life without you," he whispered in Rocky's ear and felt him relax. Rocky wrapped his arms around Adam's waist and buried his head in the crook of Adam's neck. They stood, holding on to each other, in silence.

Adam's hands continued to work their way up and down Rocky's back, sliding beneath his shirt to touch the warm skin beneath. He could feel the scars left from the multiple surgeries Rocky had needed as he got older, left over reminders that his back had never properly healed from the fall he had taken as a teenager. Rocky hummed beneath his ministrations. He leant back a bit and Rocky met him in a kiss. It was warm and familiar. It was the same kiss they'd shared for the previous ten years, and yet it felt new again. To Adam, it was like he hadn't kissed Rocky like this before and yet it was comfortable and easy at the same time. He poured every ounce of passion and love into that he could, pulling Rocky tight against him.

Rocky broke the kiss first, resting his forehead against Adam's. His eyes were closed and Adam took the opportunity to take in every inch. Rocky's face was older, harder. There was a maturity and a wisdom that he hadn't noticed before. He wondered when they'd grown up. He hadn't ever noticed. Adam had always held the image of Rocky as a teenager in his head. Even knowing they were getting older, even seeing him every day, he only ever saw the teenager. One week away from him, being surrounded by real teenagers, and that was all it took for Rocky to age those ten years in his mind. He liked it better this way, actually. It filled him with awe that so many years had passed, so many years still to come, and Rocky was still with him, aging with him, changing with him.

"What are you thinking about?" Rocky asked softly, pulling back just enough to look Adam in the eyes. Adam met his gaze and smiled.

"We are so old," he giggled. Rocky cocked an eyebrow and took a step back.

"Speak for yourself, Frog Boy. I'm a fountain of youth," he said, flexing his muscles and giving Adam a lecherous look. Adam smiled.

"Well it made me feel old, this team up. Geez, Rocko, they were all so young. Even the oldest of the team was still… well they were young. Bridge is technically only three right now, did you know that? He had to come in from the future. Three, Rocky! I could be his ifather/i! They looked young, they talked young, and I had nothing in common with any of them, because I'm old and they're not." Rocky stepped back into Adam's personal space and put his hands on Adam's shoulders.

"You were their leader, the best they could have, and no teenager could have done what you did. They needed you, the old man ready to lie down in his grave at the ripe old age of twenty-eight. Now, it's late, and you're getting that sad, woobie look on your face again. Come to bed with me, old man. It's been lonely without you." He slid his hand down to grasp Adam's and tugged. Adam allowed Rocky to drag him down the hallway to the bedroom. Like the rest of the apartment, the bedroom was immaculately clean. Rocky really had been thinking a lot the past week. He'd even changed the sheets.

"What, nobody to drool on without me here?" he teased as he pulled back the fresh comforter and shucked off his pants. Rocky flashed him a smile.

"I wouldn't drool on anybody else." Rocky said as he climbed into bed. "I missed you."

"I missed you, too." Adam collapsed on the bed and wrapped himself around Rocky. It was so comfortable, so familiar. The scent, the warmth, the angles and curves, the softness. He'd missed it so much, more than he was willing to admit, really. But he had it back now and he couldn't imagine anything worth giving this up. Maybe a boring civilian life could be better than being a ranger again, if it meant he got to spend it curled up with Rocky. He snuggled down. It was good to be home.


End file.
